Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-10-18
A WONDERFUL OPERATION.
a Surgeon Joins the Severed Nerves in 6
MANS wrist-A OompIets Success.

a Surgeon Joins the Severed Nerves in q
HANS wrist-A OompIets Success.
New York Mail and Express
"There is no department of medicine, {"
observed prominent lecturer of a city
medical college to Mail and Express re-
porter, Sin which more progress has re-
Gently been made than in the study and
treatment of diseases of the nerves.
Some years ago, not so very long, either,
surgical operations for the cure of
nerve diseases were among the absolute
impossibllities of the science, and it is
only within the past few years that
wealthy patients have dared to trust
themselves in the hands of American sur
geons for the treatment of these extreme
~ delicate ailments. But SO great has
been the advancement in knowledge, skill
and experience of our local practitioners
that there is hardly an operation known,
if any, which cannot be performed on
this side of the Atlantic with the same
skill as abroad.
SIT is only two months ago this morn
ing" continued the professor, "thet an
operation was privately performed in our
hospital operating room, in the presence
of few prominent physicians, that would
have made the operator known sill over
the world not many years ago, and even
in the light of all our modern science, is
one of the most difficult of all operations
to perform successfully. To-day the
patient was discharged, perfectly cured.
The patient is g young German grocery
CLERK who, some time before coming to
me, had the misfortune to frightiully
cut the wrist and under side Of his fore
arm in falling down stairs, sever
ing the nerves as we'll as the mus
cles of that member. The wound
healed within the usual time, but the
young German noticed TO his dismay that
he had lost the use of his fingers, and his
hand was both blue and numb, which lat
ter sensation increased daily, until at last
it might as well have been made of wood,
so far as any practical value was con-
cerned. This continued for about
month, when the young man, fearful of a
continuance of the symptoms, laid the
case before me at the hospital, and, after
thorough examination, l advised the
operation which has been SO successfully
performed by 8 friend of mine, one of the
most skillful surgeons of the time.
"On that morning." went on the doc
tor, "befOre small audience, the opera
ton was begun, the details Of which l
Will spare you. After putting him under
the influence OF an en9 sthetic cut was
made in the forearm along the course o.
the nerve and through the cicatrix. Care
fully picking his way through the thick
scar and adjoining tissue, the surgeon
came upon the sheath or cover of the
nerve. This was followed down into the
scar, in which one end OF the severed
nerve was imbedded. The other end,
which was separated from the former by
more tissue, was also found, when the two
were vivifed by cutting off their extremi-
ties, thereby securing fresh and unitable
surfaces. They were then, with infinite
delicacy and eXactness, brought together
precisely as they were before the acct
dent. A fine silver wire was passed
through e6ch Of them and they were
drawn closely together into their natural
positions. The wound was noW closed
and antisepucally dressed, the limb
securely fastened, in splints, so that the
patient could not disarrange by accident
wnst had been arranged with so much
care, ana the operation was finished.
'tIn few days." added the Professor,
in conclusion, "our friend could feel the
prick of pin in his hand, and even ap-
stsntly increased, until at the end OF q
week the blueness disappeared and the
hand had assumed s more natural ap-
pearance. Two months later-this morn
ing-he finds he can move his fingers al
most as well as ever, and within very
short time his recovery will be COM
plete."
Color blindness is twice as common
among Onakars az IL ia among the rest of